Cancer shake-up begins

7th June 2012

Changes have been made to the way cancer patients are treated in London in a move that could save 1,000 lives every year.

The restructure sees cancer services in the north and east of the city combined under an organisation called London Cancer, which brings together hospital specialists, GPs and scientists and will be responsible for more than three million people.

It will see patients given specialist care at major cancer centres and then receive the remainder of their care closer to where they live.

London Cancer’s chief medical officer Professor Kathy Pritchard-Jones said: “We’ve got some of the best scientists and clinicians in the country in our capital city but we need to get them to work together much more effectively for the benefit of patients.

“I think this is a real opportunity to do something ground-breaking for our patients. We’ve been given the opportunity to think really big and to plan services for a population of three and a half million people in north and east London, so this means we can now compete with the very best in the world.”

Every year in London 27,000 patients are diagnosed with cancer and 13,600 people die from it.

Average survival rates for cancer in London one year after diagnosis are 63.8%, which is worse than the rest of the country (66.5%.)

The new network aims to change that and also raise patient satisfaction rates, which are lower in London than elsewhere.

A similar network for south and west London will be launched later this year.